Since the beginning of the agitation in Adilabad last July (in what was termed ‘bhooporatam' or ‘struggle for land', they indiscriminately felled thousands of trees and ploughed some of the land), around 631 acres of thick forest at 10 different locations within the sanctuary have been destroyed and encroached upon. The Nirmal and Jannaram forest divisions have been particularly affected. A Times of India report, published on September 30, 2007, suggests that around 8,684 trees, including 2,884 mature teak trees, also have been illegally cut in Adilabad district. Forested land on the banks of the Pedda Vagu rivulet, near Dostnagar machaan, a regular tiger haunt in summer, has been particularly badly affected.
The forest department, expressing its inability to face such a large-scale assault, requested the Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy to provide armed police. The anticipation of the Forest Rights Act was the rationale behind this devastation. This was a repeat of the wanton attack by tribals about 30 years ago when nearly 6,000 ha. of forest were destroyed and 32 villages were established. In a recent development, the Chief Minister has been quoted as saying that he will regularise up to 10 acres of forest land occupied by tribals in the state within two to three months.
The Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary, located about 250 km. from Hyderabad in the Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh, covers 893.23 sq. km. of tropical dry deciduous teak forest with abundant bamboo, Terminalia and Bombax. Managed as a game reserve until 1965, it was declared a sanctuary in 1972 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. The final notification was issued in August 1999, dividing the sanctuary into six ranges: Kadam, Pembi, Jannaram, Indanpally, Tadlapet and Birsaipet.
The sanctuary serves as a corridor connecting the southern forests of Andhra Pradesh to reserve forests of Maharashtra, which are connected to the forests of the Vidharbha region. It is a major source of water to the Kadam reservoir, which fills to prevent floods and then supplies water through the year to the Godavari river, the lifeline of the region. After it passes through the forest, the Godavari swells perceptibly after being renewed by the many streams that flow from the park. The sanctuary was once an important hunting ground for tigers for the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Tigers have also been recorded in the annual ‘tiger census' of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department. Apart from tigers, the sanctuary is home to leopard, gaur, chital, blackbuck, chinkara, wild pig, chowsingha, sloth bear, wolf, dhole and hyena. Most of these animals are listed in Schedule 1 and 2 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red Data list. More than 250 bird species have been recorded and the sanctuary is a stronghold for the Grey Gallus sonneratii and Red Gallus gallus Junglefowl, a rare domain overlap for both species. The felling is in direct violation of Supreme Court orders, but timber smugglers have been quick to take advantage of the free-for-all situation created by local politicians.
Locals, mainly Gond, Nayakpod and Kolam tribals, and Lambada, the Banjara gypsies, who depend on marginal farming for survival and are listed as scheduled castes and tribes, occupy around 70 villages within the sanctuary boundary. Each year, larger and larger tracts of forest continue to be cleared for agriculture by such communities that are relentlessly radiating outwards from their once tiny dwellings that comprised a few huts at best. Added to the impact on the forest is the effect of their cattle and sheep that range far into the sanctuary, exposing wild animals to diseases such as foot and mouth, and reducing the fodder available to wild herbivores.
If proponents of the Forest Rights Act were to visit Kawal, they would also see illegally-cut roads in the sanctuary that are used to evacuate timber and dredged sand from rivulets in hundreds of trucks. Of course, there has been a drastic decline in the tiger population, thanks to habitat loss, encroachments, revenge poisoning against cattle kills and the press of poaching gangs who operate with impunity under the protective umbrella of locals.
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In 2007, 12 leopard skins and tiger nails were seized in the area and the involvement of local tribals was confirmed. According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), since 1997, about 20 tigers have been poached in the district. Unless urgent measures are taken, even the few tigers that survive could be lost forever; something that the Prime Minister's Tiger Task Force would be well advised to examine, though it seems to have largely forgotten about tigers soon after preparing its report.
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While a few NGOs such as HYTICOS, a small outfit working in the forests of northern Andhra Pradesh, have been working to tackle some of the issues, little else is being done by either social activists or political parties. If these people were truly keen to address the needs of locals, some kind of solution could surely be found.
Kawal represents the ugly side of the impact of the Forest Rights Act that is going to be faced by scores of Protected Areas across India. Restoring and protecting this sanctuary is vital not just for its wildlife, but for the value of the carbon it sequesters and stores and the ecosystem services it offers the nation and its people. Monitoring the faunal diversity of Kawal is merely a way of tracking whether we are going the right way in terms of protecting the forest itself. If we fail to do this, irrespective of the outcome of the battle between politicians and conservationists on the issue of the Forest Rights Act, India will be wounded, our water security left in tatters and our ability to counter climate change seriously compromised.
Sanctuary readers are encouraged to write expressing their concern for the fate of the Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary. Make the following points:
1. The sanctuary is home to India's national animal and is the catchment area of the Godavari river. Its biodiversity has been rated as equal to the Nagarjuna-Sagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve. Protecting this forest is vital to the future food and water security of the people of Andhra Pradesh, already a drought-prone area.
2. The felling of trees in the Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary directly violates Supreme Court orders. Immediate steps must be taken to prevent illegal entry, encroachment, felling, logging, sand dredging and poaching in the forest.
3. The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department has displayed its helplessness to handle the situation in light of the political support enjoyed by the encroachers. A Central Team appointed by the Prime Minister must conduct a fact-finding visit and report to him in his capacity as Chairman of the National Board for Wildlife.
4. The State Government must be provided with resources to fortify its protection capability to prevent further destruction of the forest. The DFO should be given police assistance 24 hours x 365 days to overcome such outward incidents, and forest staff needs to be equipped with arms in the very near future.
5. Local leaders who, with the support of smugglers are misleading poor landless tribals to illegally cut and occupy forest land must be taken to task legally and arrests should be made immediately after an enquiry is held.
6. Tribal communities willing to move out of the Kawal Sanctuary should be offered land for land and a generous resettlement package that should be monitored by the Tribal Welfare Ministry at the rehabilitation sites, in consultation with social activists who are sensitive to their needs.
The Member Secretary,Central Empowered Committee,
Gate No. 31, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium,
Lodi Road,
New Delhi - 110 003.
Secretary to the Government of India,  Ministry of Environment and Forests, Â
Paryavaran Bhawan,
New Delhi.        Â
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests,
Aranya Bhavan,
Hyderabad,
Andhra Pradesh.
Minister for Forest, Environment, Science and Technology & Minor Irrigation,
AP Secretariat,
Block-D, 2nd Floor, Room - 326,
Hyderabad - 500 004.
E-mail: min_frst@ap.gov.in
